Search Results for
"Vocational education"

Educational studies as a discipline is now a feature in many British universities, but little research has been undertaken to explore what kinds of student choose the subject, how easily they access it or how they fare as undergraduate students. This article attempts to address this paucity of research by drawing on a selection of findings from a study undertaken with undergraduate students between 2004 and 2007. The study tracks the progress of a single cohort of students, some from vocational backgrounds and some from traditional academic backgrounds, on a full-time, three-year BA Honours educational studies degree. The article initially provides a discussion relating to the historical place of educational studies as a subject for study at undergraduate level and suggests how this links to the British widening-participation agenda. This provides a context for the subsequent sections, which present a selection of findings from the three-year research project. The project was designed to explore the students' experiences by asking which of them were accepted to undertake the degree by admissions staff, how they fared on the degree and, critically, whether their pre-entry qualifications had an impact on their progress and success. This article provides some answers to these questions which suggest that admissions staff are more cautious in accepting vocational entry qualifications, but that the nature of these has little bearing on ultimate success on the degree. It concludes by suggesting how this knowledge might impact on information for potential applicants and on the selection of students in the future. © 2011 Copyright UCU.

In a previous series of studies, a model of comprehensive competence-based vocational education (CCBE model) was developed, consisting of eight principles of competence-based vocational education (CBE) that were elaborated for four implementation levels (Wesselink et al. European journal of vocational training 40:38-51 2007a). The model thus consisted of 32 cells, all defined by text. It was developed to provide study programme teams working in vocational education with an instrument to assess the actual and desired "competentiveness" of their study programmes. "Competentiveness" refers to the extent to which study programmes are based on the principles of CBE that we formulated. The model is an instrument for analysing the alignment of study programmes with the defining principles of CBE and clarifying programme teams' intentions, i. e. the extent to which they wish to achieve higher levels of implementation of the different principles. This article presents the results of two studies, the aim of which was to identify adjustments the teachers felt were necessary to make the CCBE model a valid instrument for assessing the actual and desired "competentiveness" of their study programmes. In study A, 57 teachers evaluated the model during focus group discussions, resulting in a revised CCBE model consisting of ten principles for five levels of implementation. In study B, 151 teachers completed a questionnaire to evaluate the comprehensibility of the revised model. The study showed that teachers understood and interpreted the revised model as intended, were able to position their study programmes by using the revised model and that the content validity of the revised model was good. © 2011 The Author(s).

This article is concerned with the transition from school to the workplace for pupils with special educational needs in Germany. First, an outline of the standard system of professional training in Germany shall be given. Then, the initial conditions that adolescents are confronted with at the end of their time in school shall be examined. This review will then focus on studies and surveys of students with special educational needs who have graduated from school in Germany. It quickly becomes apparent that, after school, adolescents with special educational needs (SEN) most times visited a one-year school-based pre-vocational programme, and afterwards a state-funded school-based vocational programme; therefore the standard German dual-educational apprenticeship system generally doesn't apply. Looking at segregated schoolbased vocational training for students with SEN, it can be observed that the placement rate into the general labour market is not sufficient. Inclusive models play a minor role here, even if the analyses at hand suggest promising perspectives. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

A system of qualification options has evolved that is complementary to companybased and school-based vocational training. Thus far, these alternatives have been largely disregarded by vocational education research. Yet with respect to the number of annual entries, those alternatives are currently nearly as significant as conventional vocational training. However, the question remains still unanswered if those alternatives are to be regarded as opportunities or rather as risk factors in respect of the vocational training or occupational integration of youth entering it. Based on a longitudinal study, the German Youth Institute's so-called 'transition panel' about the causes and effects of educational and vocational training-related pathways upon the occupational integration of young people leaving Hauptschule, the article aims at further investigation of the functions of those alternatives with regard to the integration into vocational training over the course of time. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

This paper discusses the findings from a one-year ethnographic study of young people attending Entry to Employment (E2E) programmes in two local authorities in the north of England. The paper locates E2E within the broader context of provision for low-achieving young people and of UK government policy on reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training. Although discourses associated with these categories of young people often present them in negative terms, the paper shows that this type of conceptualisation is inadequate to understand the lives of young people on the margins of education and employment. The paper also finds that the success of E2E in improving employability is mixed. The programme helps young people to improve their confidence, basic skills and personal effectiveness, as well as provides opportunities to acquire qualifications. However, employability is also linked to broader social and economic factors. Although E2E can help young people gain employment, particularly in relatively low-skill areas of work, in adverse economic conditions, the programme is unlikely to offer participants a labour market advantage. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Practical ability is always mentioned which is the most important in higher vocational education. This paper discusses a kind of ability-targeted mode based on projects in computer courses teaching in China, such as Office Automation and Web Design. When traditional teaching mode being reformed into ability-targeted and project-based mode, there are three important sections to be focused on, i.e., needs analysis, teaching and summary. Firstly, real projects should be chosen adapted to students, matching related course and covering all knowledge points of syllabus. At the section of teaching, it includes single-item training, integrated-project training and innovated-project training, and the result of experiment shows that students' competence of career is increased spirally after the training. During the final period, not only conclusions should be made, but also be feedback to needs analysis for next better teaching plan. It is proved that the ability-targeted mode works well. © 2011 IEEE.

Whilst the literature consistently argues that vocational education and training, including apprenticeships and traineeships, contribute to positive employment outcomes for people with disability, little is documented regarding their post-course outcomes, particularly over time. This paper presents a retrospective outcome analysis of 253 apprentices and trainees with disability who were placed and supported by EDGE Employment Solutions (EDGE) between 2000 and 2010. EDGE, established in 1984 as a Disability Employment Service (DES) in Perth, Western Australia, has actively pursued apprenticeships and traineeship for people with disability in Australia since the 1990s. Post-course outcomes, including income, hours worked, and job durability, were analysed and compared with matched pairs of current EDGE registrants with similar socio-demographic characteristics who had not commenced an apprenticeship or traineeship. The retrospective outcome analysis found significantly better post-training outcomes for participants in the "completed" apprenticeship cohort than those achieved by their matched pairs. Improved outcomes were evident in higher hourly wages, more hours worked per week, higher weekly wages, and greater job durability. Better outcomes were also achieved by participants in the "completed" traineeship cohort and "did not complete" apprenticeship cohort. The outcomes for participants in the "did not complete" traineeship cohort did not differ significantly from the comparison group on most outcome measures. © 2011- IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Science-Based Technology School (SBTS) is a pilot project which was established under a co-operative agreement between the National Science and Technology Development (NSTDA) and The vocational education Commission (VEC) in 2008. The main purpose of the project is to provide information to new inventors or new technologists in order to support the growth of the domestic economy and industries. Project Based learning (PBL) and teaching is an approach for classroom activity and is integrated within the basic science curriculum and vocational training for the students in the school. The aim of this paper is to study the current state and existing problems in educational management of the Science-Based Technology School project and provide possible improvements. The teaching and learning process were examined and efficient mechanisms to support and improve academic knowledge for new inventors were considered. Results from this study will be applied to future designs and used to develop the educational management model for the Science-Based Technology School. © 2011 IEEE.

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the development of student knowledge in pre-vocational secondary education schools which differ in the manner and extent to which they have implemented characteristics of competence-based education. The implementation of these characteristics was examined using a teacher questionnaire and the development of knowledge was investigated using concept mapping. The results showed that students developed slightly more knowledge in learning situations with fewer characteristics of competence-based education. The organisational characteristics of the learning situations were further found to be distinctive for the development of knowledge. © 2011 The Author(s).

Some young people experience difficulty making the transition from schooling to work. The magnitude of this effect varies between countries and is linked to the labor-market regulation and the design of national transition systems. Providing more vocational education and training (VET) opportunities remains a popular policy choice to ease school-to-work transition. However, the effectiveness of such initiatives is highly variable, often zero and sometimes negative. Given the expense of implementing good-quality VET programs, the research calls into question the effectiveness and efficiency of VET in supporting young people experiencing difficulties with school-to-work transition to enter the labor market. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.